A Motion Sensing Light For Your Entrance Hallway

1 year ago

Arriving home to a dark house with an armful of anything is usually an exercise in fumbling confusion until someone manages to turn on a light. [Pavel Gesyuk] has circumvented this problem entirely by building and installing a motion detecting entrance light!

[Gesyuk] is using an Arduino clone by the name of Funduino Mini Pro, a 2-channel, 2-way relay, — he only needed one, but you use what you have on hand — a recycled power supply to convert 220V AC to 5V DC, and an infrared sensor.

The project’s goal — in excess of a lighting solution for an entrance hallway — was the learn the ins and outs of the Arduino and motion sensors. After some initial hurdles familiarizing himself with the Arduino, [Gesyuk] wired everything together on a protoboard and stuck it in a plastic case — loose wires in a high traffic area doesn’t a safe home make.

Although the light is set to time out and turn off after a while, the configuration of [Gesyuk]’s home meant that he had to deliberately position the infrared sensor so that only movement in the entrance would trigger it — although that would be great fodder for messing with house guests! Still, it’s nice to not have to worry about flicking on the light whenever you get home.